This entire year has already been beyond bountiful for anyone who enjoys any sort of death/doom metal as we’ve gotten so fucking much excellence from that realm from the likes of Officium Triste, Weeping Sores, Illimitable Dolor, and much more that have astounded us with each of their releases. I truly believed to my core that after listening to the upcoming debut from Oak, this year would prove to have no more surprises for the style. Creeping from their hole with much to bring forth to the table, Sun of the Dying returns to us with something that’s truly compelling right from the beginning.

It was with their debut album not too long ago that this Spanish band showed us what they could bring to the table with their entrancing brand of death/doom metal that was as heavy as it was gorgeous in an incredibly macabre sense, but given that it was the band’s debut it had some tweaking to be done before it could become something truly great despite its evident potency. Everything that could’ve been improved upon their sound was done with phenomenal excellence and skill such that I still can’t get over how well it’s done here! The very essence of “The Earth is Silent” brings forth everything great that could ever possibly be done with the style. Clean vocals that I was not expecting at all that cut immensely deep, growls that show great improvement and diligence upon how they were in the previous Sun of the Dying effort, grand musicianship that truly makes you feel feeble and like a small speck in a world of unfathomable grandeur of both light and darkness, captivation that prevails from that first note to the crashing end, and a fantastic display of understanding of their craft the likes of which many bands this small wish they could achieve; it all comes together virtually effortlessly to make “The Earth is Silent” anything but an album to ignore should you consider yourself any kind of the fan of this massive sound. Sun of the Dying has immediately shown themselves to be an act that is not to be underestimated in even the smallest way, and it’s with every song we’re treated to here that “The Earth is Silent” continuously evolves into something that is to be both feared and revered as a must-hear album for death/doom as this year ever so slowly draws to a close.

Such work like this best not go unheralded given its grandeur and the band’s talent being displayed in every moment that we’re graced with for its entirety, and I’ll be damned before I let such a work like “The Earth is Silent” go unheard to any ear that’s willing to listen. Sun of the Dying showed promise with their debut, but it’s here that they already show mastery the likes of which are next to earth-shattering.

LISTEN to “The Earth is Silent” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sun of the Dying on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Sun of the Dying on Twitter: @Sunofthedying